The first time I saw a diaper cake, years and years ago in a magazine, I honest to Jimmy Choo thought it was an cake made to look like diapers. Kind of like how I thought Nesting Dolls were named after a designer (last name Nesting) and not the fact that they stacked together (a la, nesting). I thought diaper cakes were a trendy solution to sheet cakes. I found out they were not.

Jessica saw a diaper cake at a shower she went to recently and reasoned that she could make one herself. I love when people can see something and duplicate it without directions. I can't even fathom how to do that. Directions are my life blood. I may only glance at them (which drives my mother nuts). I just like knowing they're there. Directions are my security blanket.

This cake is her second creation -- she's getting pretty bomb at it.She claims she needed my help, but really I was in the way like always. I may have even gotten slightly scolded once for taking pictures. Whatever. She loves me. That's why we've been together so long.

So. Let's make this cake. I'll give you the directions that I would need to recreate this. ps. The pictures are total crud. Point and shoot. But Rule #73: No excuses. Play like a champ. These are stink city.

Obviously. Lot of diaper rolling. Jess bought a massive pack from Costco, but was ultimately a tad disappointed. Though they were cheaper (sorry Dania, we love you), cheaper made them stiffer and harder to roll, PLUS they weren't plain white diapers. They had little monkeys all over them and they seemed to taunt us throughout the day. Bottom line: If you can pay up for the plain white pampers, do it and avoid our mistake. They're roll easier and we like the look of plain better. But, regardless, it worked, it came out bomb, and everyone still oooh'd and aaah'd.

On a pizza pan (is that what that's called? -- I'm having one of those moments where I can't think of the name of a standard object) , we (Jessica) stacked two decorative paint cans bought from Michael's as the insides. We (Jessica) filled one with baby q-tips, the other with little wash cloths.

Next, cut a large string of twine and loop it around the bottom can. Begin putting rolls in, one at a time, making sure you keep the loop of twine pulled tight. That was my job. I was twine holder. And even that was too much for me. I failed once because I was taking pictures and Jess had to re-roll 6 diapers. She was less than happy with me, but she loves. Make sure to roll them tight, hold the twine tight, and line them up snug. No one will see this row (it will be hidden by outer rolls), so it doesn't need to look completely pretty, but it does need to be tight. And we'll call that a double use tight: tight and tiiiight.

This is what it should look like after the first round. Knot the twine and cut it close to the knot (we're going to hide the uglyness later).And also, see what I mean about those monkeys? TAUNTING us.

We ended up with three rows on the bottom (this is after row two, which I'm assuming you knew because you can count), and we just kept it moving like that. We'd make all the rows for a layer before moving to the next. And again, when I say we, I'm really saying Jessica. I held twine and watched reruns of Glee.

Our four layer cake, held together with twine.Not really that pretty here.A little bit like the Leaning Tower of Diapers.

Because Jess thinks of everything, she knew to top it with fake daisies (our shower color) and then add thick ribbon to cover the nasty twine.

VOILA! Diaper cake.

Pretty slick. huh?A perfect centerpiece and 140 diapers is a pretty good little start for Dania. That'll last her, what? A day?

OK, your 5 friends and mom are not the only ones reading your blog! Very different approach to creating a diaper cake, love it. Consider entering your design into the diaper cake of the month contest: http://www.baby-shower-cake-ideas.com/ Lots of great exposure for your creativity!

I'm Susie. He's Chuck. Our IVF miracle is Sam and our medical miracle (& surprise!) is Baby Kate. We're The Allisons. The About Us section will give you more information. More than you could ever want.